[PathOfEclipse]

Your response should be a comedic parody, yet, sadly, you are actually being serious. It's a depressing reflection on the state of the world.

I said there are zero RCTs, a type of study that can establish causation, and you respond, "there are lots of mask studies! You just aren't looking!" Your response literally contradicts nothing that I said. I even linked a BMJ-published opinion lamenting the fact that there are a lot of mask studies, but they are mostly low-quality. I'm going to guess you didn't bother reading it.

Not to mention that you tell me there is a deluge of studies showing the effectiveness of masks, but you can't even be bothered to cite one yourself. Lastly, you accuse me of sitting in an echo chamber, an accusation that is beyond baseless. What else would you be willing to accuse me of without a shred of evidence?

Your response is just another example that people don't follow the scientific method; they are driven by ideology and tribalism.

[gilbetron]

First google hit, not difficult: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02457-y

Again, you have an agenda that is at odds with reality, please stop, it is literally hurting people.

[PathOfEclipse]

I guess it's possible you don't actually know the difference, but what you linked isn't a research paper or study; it's a news article! And it's factually incorrect. It cites the Bangladesh RCT, which I am well aware of already. The trial results showed little to no statistically significant benefit to masking: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360320982_The_Bangl...

"A very large trial, whose results were published in Science, carried out in Bangladesh between 2020 and 2021 has been widely acclaimed as providing the most convincing evidence yet that masks work in reducing Covid-19 transmission and infections. However, the media grossly exaggerated the authors' own conclusions, and sceptical researchers have identified weaknesses in various aspects of the trial and statistical analysis which cast doubts on the significance of the results."

Also: https://www.justfactsdaily.com/famed-bangladesh-mask-study-e...

"However, their pre-analysis plan to measure results for “each decade” of age ranges shows no statistically significant effects among people aged 18–29, 30–39, 40–49, and 70+. Furthermore, they excluded this breakdown from their paper and relegated it to a supplement."

Also: https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/bangladesh-study-proves-m...

Also: https://www.acsh.org/news/2021/09/02/clinical-trial-banglade...

Also: https://anthonycolpo.com/the-bangladesh-mask-study-is-back-a...

"One especially illuminating finding, which would be funny were it not a reflection of just how far science has fallen, is that purple cloth masks showed no advantage over going maskless, but red cloth masks did. Red cloth masks, in fact, showed higher 'efficacy' than surgical masks."

One of us two is at odds with reality. That may be true. But here's a hint. It's not me. When you're done with your baseless and tribalistic accusations of my "agenda", maybe you can humble yourself enough to learn something today.